World Famous Comics: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville
Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville
By: Jeff Smith Publisher: Scholastic Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Scholastic Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: February 01, 2005 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
The BONE adventures tell the story of a young bone boy, Fone Bone, and his two cousins, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, who are banned from their homeland of Boneville. When the cousins find themselves mysteriously trapped in a wonderful but often terrifying land filled with secrets and danger - and special new friendships - they are soon caught up in adventures beyond their wildest dreams. In OUT FROM BONEVILLE, the three Bone cousins are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley where they come face to face with...
Great books My kids, 10 and 12 years old, are not avid book or comic book readers, but the devaoured the 9 volumes in a couple of weekends.
The quality of the book was flawless.
Even I enjoyed it.
This book is NOT appropriate for children I was completely shocked and horrified that this book is marketed to young children by Scholastic. My eight year old son received the first Bone book as a gift. I could not believe that the content contains characters smoking and drinking beer. This is NOT a book that should be given to a child for that reason alone! After doing some research I read that Scholastic at first did not want to include the inappropriate content, however they decided to leave it in the book anyway. As a parent I do not think any child should be reading a book that "glamorizes" smoking. I am also disgusted that Scholastic, which is a name parents trust, would allow this series to be marketed to young children.
Not intended for children Because I could not find a review anywhere online that would talk specifically about whether this book is appropriate for children, I want to target my review solely to the question of content as it regards to pre-teens. This may be the greatest graphic novel since sliced bread, but that's not the judgment call I'm making.
After flipping through this book, I've decided it's not something I want my child to read. As I understand it, the series wasn't intended for children at the outset anyway, and later on the author toned down some elements of the story.
As an example, in this book there are two scenes that involve the main female character, Thorn, undressing or bathing. In neither scene do you see anything objectionable (in the bathing scene, only a heap of discarded clothing) but the reader is left to imagine the action. In the bathing scene, Thorn invites the main cartoon character, Fone Bone, to join her.
If you believe, as I do, that parents should guard a child's thoughts as well as his actions, then it makes no sense to place this book in your son's hands. I know this makes me sound like an overprotective crackpot, but I imagine that down the road I'll get my reward when the parents of daughters have nothing to fear from my son.
The book also contains a smattering of swear words, nothing your child doesn't hear on the playground. But again, I believe I am the gatekeeper and have decided not to reinforce this language with the books I hand him.
I once thought I agreed with a book like Parents Who Love Reading, Kids Who Don't: How It Happens and What You Can Do About It that concludes you should not censor your child's reading matter. I no longer do. If down the road he picks something up that I object to, I'll have to think more deeply about this issue. For now, I am going to assert my parental right to censor.
You know it will be a great series. This first installment in the Bone series isn't the best of firsts, but you know when you see the artistry and the characters that this is going to be something great. So, read on.
Very Surprised! I read a lot of graphic novels, more adult than anything else. I read the reviews and decided to give the Bone series a try. At first I was worried that I might have wasted my money. Boy, was I wrong! After reading a few chapters, I was very surprised to find that I couldn't put it down. I have since bought the rest of the books in the series and love every one of them! They are very well written and the art work is top notch. I highly reccomend this series for everyone.
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